[New medications for treatment of systemic mycoses].

The past few years have seen the advent of several new antifungal agents. The echinocandin, caspofungin, has greatly expanded the antifungal armamentarium by providing a cell wall-active agent with candidacidal activity as well as demonstrated clinical efficacy in the therapy of aspergillosis refractory to available therapy. In addition, in clinical trials, caspofungin exhibited efficacy comparable to amphotericin B for invasive and/or fluconazole-resistant Candida infections. According to a randomised trial, voriconazole has added a significantly improved therapeutic option for primary therapy of invasive aspergillosis. Additionally, voriconazole may be used successfully as salvage therapy for other fungal infections, i.e. cryptococcosis. Despite the advances offered by each of these drugs, the morbidity and mortality associated with invasive fungal infections remains high. Considering the adverse effects of the available antifungal agents and the considerable costs for their application, meaningful clinical trials for a precise indication in different clinical situations are urgently needed.